I've been wondering about this the last few months and I wanted to see if anyone else agreed. Seeing as Extraverted Thinking is objective extraverted judgment, isn't it likely that the function would lead someone with it as dominant or auxiliary to find energy off direct competition? I can't figure out a way to explain it better, or maybe that's just how simple it is. Any thoughts?
Thinking tends to be concerned with dispassionate contemplation. When somebody engages in that they are led to think in a logical manner, or they will be concerned simply with what is true or false. Since Thinking is a Judging function, it tends to establish an agenda. Since this agenda is founded on attempts at logical reasoning, it is easy for the Thinking type in question to be concerned with questions of efficiency or lack thereof, competence or lack thereof. When one thinks in such a manner, he looks for a justification based on facts or chains of reasoning, not gut feelings or intuitions. That is why the agenda of the Thinking type tends to be such.
Very often this leads this type to be interested in independence and competence. Because the nature of the Extroverted Thinking is such that the focus is on things external to the person, the Te type tends to gain an interest in being competent and independent with regard to the activities in the external world. Very frequently this means being more independent or more competent than other people.
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In one sentence, indeed the Te type does tend to be more competitive than other types because the nature of this type is competence focused and externally focused.
Technical note: I said that the Extroverted Thinking type merely tends to be more competitive than others. The word 'tends' was chosen with great care. To be the Extroverted Thinking type or any type means to have a combination of certain psychological dispositions. Such dispositions do not necessitate certain behaviors. The fact is merely that the dispositions in question express themselves in terms of such behaviors under the circumstances that we observe.
The dispositions are as follows;
Thinking: Tendency towards dispassionate contemplation
Extroversion: Tendency to be stimulated primarily by interaction with the external world.
In the Western society, circumstances tend to be such that those who are at ease iwith dispassionate contemplation and interaction with the external world tend to become outgoing and competence focused, which engenders competitive personality traits. However, if the person in question was kidnapped by Pirates and forced into the role of a slave who spends 14 hours each day in a solitary cell, he certainly would not exhibit any competitive personality traits. Or any qualities of character that we tend to associate with the Thinking type.
If the person in question was forced to emigrate to an Indian village where the cast system prohibits him from being competitive or outgoing, he would still be a Te type, or have a tendency to be primarily stimulated by dispassionate contemplation and interaction with the world, yet it would manifest in personality traits other than competitiveness.
Even more notably, consider a Te person who was raised as the youngest of seven brothers and a feminizing, abusive father. Certainly the person in question would not be likely to manifest qualities of competitiveness whilst residing with these people.